Connecticut Coalition Announces Sixth Annual Statewide #KeepKidsSafe Gun Buyback and Gun Safe Giveaway Day

The Newtown Action Alliance Foundation, the Ethan Miller Song Foundation, police departments, Connecticut hospitals, gun violence prevention organizations, and community partners across Connecticut will hold the sixth annual #KeepKidsSafe Connecticut Statewide Gun Buyback and Gun Safe Giveaway Day on Saturday, October 3.

Sixteen communities are expected to participate in this year’s coordinated statewide initiative. Residents will have an opportunity to voluntarily turn in guns at participating buyback locations in exchange for gift cards. Free PIN-code gun safes and gun-safety educational materials will also be distributed at participating locations while supplies last.

Gun buybacks provide gun owners and family members with a safe way to remove guns that are no longer wanted or needed. Safe storage helps prevent children, people experiencing a mental health crisis, individuals with dementia, perpetrators of domestic violence and others who should not have access to guns from obtaining them.

During the first five annual #KeepKidsSafe Connecticut Statewide Gun Buyback and Gun Safe Giveaway Days, participating communities collected and destroyed more than 2,082 guns, including 47 assault weapons, and distributed more than 2,370 gun safes, along with hundreds of gun-safety educational materials.

The Campaign to Keep Kids Safe was established in 2019 by the Newtown Action Alliance Foundation and the Ethan Miller Song Foundation to prevent childhood gun suicides, unintentional shootings and gun homicides through public education, safe-storage resources and voluntary gun-disposal opportunities. The statewide coalition includes the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) and several local hospitals and health systems, including Bridgeport Hospital, Connecticut Children’s, Hartford Hospital, MidState Medical Center, Northwell Health, Saint Francis Hospital, Saint Mary’s Hospital, Stamford Health, and UConn Health Waterbury Hospital, Yale New Haven Hospital.

The coalition also comprises the Connecticut Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, Connecticut Violence Intervention Program, the Newtown Action Alliance Foundation, Ethan Miller Song Foundation, Connecticut Against Gun Violence Education Fund, Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH), Mothers United Against Violence, Project Longevity-Waterbury, Waterbury PAL, Wilton Quaker Meeting, participating municipalities and police departments, and other community partners.

Gun Buyback and Gun Safe Giveaway Locations

Participating buyback locations will provide gift cards for operable guns. Guns must be unloaded and transported in the vehicle’s trunk or otherwise in accordance with the directions of the participating police department.

• Danbury: Police Department, 375 Main Street, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Guilford: Police Department, 400 Church Street, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Hartford: Police Department, 50 Jennings Road, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
• Meriden: Police Department, 30 Butler Street, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• New Britain: Police Department, 642 Christian Lane, Berlin, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Newtown: Police Department, 191 South Main Street, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Norwalk: Police Department, 1 Monroe Street, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Stamford: Police Department, 725 Bedford Street, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Waterbury: Police Department Training Center, 240 Bank Street, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Westport: Police Department, 50 Jesup Rd, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Gun Safe Giveaway Locations

Gun safes are limited and will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Requirements may vary by location, and residents should confirm local instructions before attending.

• Bridgeport: Gun Safe Giveaway at Police Department at 300 Congress Street, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Cheshire: Police Department, 500 Highland Avenue, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• New Haven: Connecticut Violence Intervention and Prevention, 230 Ashmun Street, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• New London: Police Department, 5 Governor Winthrop Boulevard, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Plainfield: Police Department, 210 Norwich Road, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
• Waterford: Police Department, 41 Avery Lane, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

For information and event updates, visit www.NewtownActionAllianceFoundation.org.